What to do With a Perceived Dead-End? The Street (1992-1996) & Aesthetics of Postsocialist TV Satire

Taking as its main case study the experimental, satirical sketch show The Street / Улицата (1992-1996), this essay examines the transformational moment in Bulgarian broadcast media following 1989, specifically focusing on the period between 1990 and 1997, and ways in which the socio-political transition functioned as a catalyst for re-assessing the aesthetics, politics, and structure of television in the country. I focus on the juxtaposition of radical potential and problematic representations featured on this show, establishing connections between the post-1989 influx of Western cultural import and the new media form The Street took upon its release in 1992. The paper locates regional intersections of approach and aesthetics evident in postsocialist TV satire.